Contra 4 Art Gallery

It's midnight and I've been playing Contra 4 all weekend, and thought I would commemorate the time spent playing this awesome game with this art and photo gallery. I've been playing Contra 4 for about 5 years now. It never gets old. Awesome artwork as well.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project

There are video games, and then there are video games that define one's childhood. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project is undoubtedly one of the latter. I never owned the game as a kid, but I often rented this masterpiece. Not that it mattered: several friends owned a copy and TMNT3 was one of the first games I ever beat, shortly after it launched in 1992.

The Turtles were my heroes growing up. I knew, watching the cartoon, that I wanted to be a trash-talking slacker who ate pizza at every opportunity and spent his free time fighting crime and playing video games. Eventually I abandoned the fighting crime aspect, but I like to think that I have been successful in the rest.

I distinctly remember staying up until 5:00 a.m. beating the one night because we had to return the cartridge to the rental store the next day. That's the kind of gaming pressure one simply cannot simulate as an adult, and with the internet and its access to everything interesting ever conceived.

Playing through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project again over the last few days totally recaptured some of the mondo times playing turtles games, collecting the action figures, or watching the cartoon religiously. I still have over a hundred TMNT action figures, but with no place to display them they just sit tucked away in my closet, a quiet metaphor for the lost magic of the 1980s.

Even though I own the cartridge, I decided to play through the game on an emulator so I could take screenshots (which you can see below, I've posted the best 19 of the 50-something shots I captured). Even on an emulator, the second I saw the epic sprite flicker and garbage columns on the left and the right, I knew I was home.

TMNT3 is your basic brawler, with a lot of polish and flair for the NES. Konami had been making killer beat 'em ups for years at this point, and the influence of other games (notably Konami's Crime Fighters and especially Capcom's Final Fight) has left a positive aura of perfection on this cart. The only downside to the gameplay is that, by Level 8 you'll start to feel the pressure of the repetitive enemies, some of which seem to hit you no matter what.

The bosses, likewise, can be tedious. Most of the bosses take--and I'm not exaggerating--over 100 jump-kicks to kill. Leonardo's special move proves to be a lifesaver in these situations, and can pretty much destroy any boss you come across.

Despite some minor flaws, TMNT3: TMP is totally worth your time. You haven't played the NES until you've played this game. I just beat the game this morning, but I had to use the secret code to restart Stage 8. After I hit post, it's time to ditch the emulator, turn off all the lights, and sit in front of my giant CRT and NES until Shredder & co. eat dirt.

VG Music: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Soundtrack

One of my recent project has been to beat TMNT for NES. For years, well, for decades, this game has haunted me. I suspect it haunts some of my readers as well.

TMNT is known as being one of the hardest--yet enjoyable and well-made--games on the NES, and no one's 8-Bit conquest is complete without the Shredder's head sitting on a metaphorical shelf.

Despite the catchy nature of the songs, Konami manages to include a noticeable tone of anxiety which permeates every track. I'm not sure how they did it, but the music in this game has always stressed me out.

Am I the only one?

Gradius NES FAQ, Walkthrough, Review & Codes

Gradius was an arcade hit in Japan. America and Europe got the game under the title "Nemesis." Europe would later get Gradius II as "Vulcan Venture." The NES revieced ports of both. So did the Turbo Grafx-16. Also the MSX.

The NES Gradius will no doubt hold a special place in many gamers' heart because it was the most accessible port for most of us growing up. Gradius was hard as shit, so I could never get very far.

The Konami Code changed that a little. Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, start. In Life Force & Contra you get 30 lives. In Gradius your ship gets near maxed.



Strategy on the NES involves

1) never getting hit
2) always having the shield up
3) having another shield ready to go if your shield gets low
4) switching from Double to Laser sometimes

In areas with a floor and ceiling it's typically better to use double. In open space, use the lasers. This means double in stages 3, 4, 6, 7. You should use the lasers for stage 5. At the END of stage 6, switch to the lasers if possible. You'll know the end is coming because of the crazy background junk.



Gradius has its fair share of other codes as well. I'm just going to list the all, then get to the review:

You can get into a nice spot with some of the core bosses in which you'll be safe. Try to go just above the 4x laser beams and sit still. All shots should miss you!

Continue Code
--------------
You can continue! At the Game Over screen, press down, up, B, A, B, A, B, A, start. You only get 1.


Skipping Levels
---------------
Warp (1 to 3): after defeating Core Fighter in level 1, when the thousands digit of your score is even, destroy 4 hatches.

Warp (2 to 4): Destroy Xaerous Core at end of level 2 within 2 seconds of its core turning blue.

Warp (3 to 5): Destroy 10 stone heads in level 3.

Game Genie Codes
-------------------
SXOOYYVI Both players have infinite lives
AENELZLA Both players start with 1 life
IENELZLA Both players start with 6 lives
AENELZLE Both players start with 9 lives
KOXOLYSP Keep power capsules
NNOEKPIE Increase force field protection
YGUONUZS + YGKPUUIL Never lose weapons

They simply did an awesome job with this port. It's just as much fun as its arcade counterpart, and the shield mechanic actually makes the game significantly easier. Plenty of codes, cool music, nice art, stage variety, challenge, and flawless hit detection make this one of the best greatest NES games you can buy. It's been released on the Wii VC as well, so get Gradius any way you can. You should probably grab Life Force as well.

I bought Gradius for 5.00 at a garage sale in the '90s. Finally conquered the NES version today. Kabuki Quantum Fighter, The Guardian Legend, The Clash at Demonhead, and now Gradius. What's next?

Super Castlevania IV Nintendo Power Scans

Scans from the January 1992 Nintendo Power covering Super Castlevania IV. I still love the layouts and the artwork they worked into their magazine spreads.

Super Castlevania IV is the shit, what more can I say? It's got the smoothest whip action in any 2-D Castlevania, a ridiculous amount of levels, great difficulty curve, amazing music, and if you haven't played it you should probably do so immediately. Don't even read the last paragraph, you could be playing Super Castlevania IV.

Anyway, enjoy the gallery! Click the images for the full size.